Denver Homeless Out Loud has written a local Denver ballot initiative that, if passed, would put an end to the city’s “move on” orders and anti-survival laws. Everyone – individuals, couples, teens, and families – must have the Right to Survive in Denver.

The Denver Right to Survive Initiative protects these rights for all people:

(1) The right to rest in a non-obstructive manner in public spaces. (2) The right to shelter oneself from the elements in a non-obstructive manner in outdoor public spaces. (3) The right to eat, share, accept, or give food in any public space where food is not prohibited. (4) The right to occupy one’s own legally parked motor vehicle or occupy a legally parked motor vehicle belonging to another, with the owner’s permission. (5) The right to an expectation of safety and privacy for one’s person and belongings while occupying public spaces.

Thousands of signatures from registered Denver voters are required to get this inititive on the ballot. These signatures must be gathered between April and August 2018 for the initiative to be eligible for the May 7, 2019 election. To register to vote in Denver, you must be a US citizen, be at least 18 years old by the time you vote, be a resident of Denver, and not be serving a sentence (including parole) for a felony conviction. If this applies to you, then you may register to vote. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, GO REGISTER NOW! Once registered, you can sign the petition to get this on the ballot. If enough signatures are gathered and the initiative makes the ballot, then you will be able to vote for it in the May 2019 election. If you have a Colorado ID or Social Security number, you can register online, even if you are homeless. You can find instructions by following these steps: - Go to https://www.govotecolorado.com - Click on the Voter Menu in the upper-left corner of the screen. - Click on FAQs (frequently asked questions). - Scroll down the list of topics to Foreclosures and homeless voters. - Read the questions and answers about registering to vote if you’re homeless. - Then, go back to the voter registration screen and register by following those instructions.

Once you’ve registered to vote, look for our signature gatherers carrying clipboards that say “Denver Right To Survive Initiative” on the back. Sign with one of us to get this life saving initiative on the ballot.

​ On February 12, Erik Soliván resigned from his position as Executive Director of Denver’s Office of Housing and Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE). The Office of HOPE was created by Mayor Michael Hancock to work on “connecting individuals and families to healthy living, good paying jobs and affordable housing.” Mayor Hancock announced the creation of the office in his annual State of the City address on July 11, 2016. Hancock announced Soliván as the director of HOPE just over one year ago, on January 9, 2017. At a press conference that day, Hancock said that HOPE, under Soliván, would “create a unified and forceful effort to help those who need a home find a home, and that means homes and support for those without them.” Just over one year later, Soliván has announced his departure from HOPE. His decision comes amidst some restructuring of the office: Denver is currently conducting a job search for a new chief housing officer that will oversee HOPE, and the Hancock administration has merged HOPE with the city’s Office of Economic Development. In his resignation letter, Soliván expressed support for the reorganization, arguing that “it will better position the city to tackle complex issues, execute, and support initiatives in the Housing Plan to expand and preserve housing affordability.” Even though he was only with HOPE for one year, Soliván achieved some worthy accomplishments. He told Westword that he is especially proud of launching the Lower Income Voucher Equity program, also known as LIVE Denver, which is a “2-year pilot program to match vacant rental units with working families and individuals” and to fund the difference between the units’ rental costs and what the renters can afford. Soliván also mentioned an eviction-diversion program, a comprehensive landlord-tenant guide, and the Smart Cities initiative at 23rd and Lawrence as important accomplishments during his time at HOPE. Many of these achievements overlap with the list of 30 action items to address housing and homelessness issues that Soliván helped create while at HOPE. The 30 action items include supporting the Tiny Home village. While at HOPE, Soliván was one of the primary authors of the Denver’s five-year housing plan. It is not yet clear who will replace Soliván as director of HOPE, or how HOPE’s work will change now that it is part of the Office of Economic Development. In an interview with Westword, Soliván was not even fully confident that the office of HOPE would continue to exist. However, he emphasized that the city’s 30 action items are “ongoing” and will not disappear.

Denver now has not one, but two laundry trucks. Bayaud Enterprises, which has operated a laundry truck in Denver since 2016 in partnership with Radian and Denver Homeless Out Loud, launched its second truck on May 17. The first truck had a banner first year, operating on 151 days and washing almost 3,000 loads of laundry! But thanks to the launch of the second truck, that capacity is slated to double. If you need to wash your clothes, you can find the laundry trucks' schedule at this website:

Starting at 12pm on the Friday before the next scheduled general public comment session, sign up via email using dencc@denvergov.org, phone by calling 720-337-2000, or in person with a member of the Legislative Services staff in the City & County Building, Room 451. Sign-up closes at 4:30pm on the day of the session.

Do you need clothes? Try visiting Impact Humanity, Denver's new free retail clothing store, located at 2526 Welton Street in Five Points. You'll find clothing on racks and a fitting room for trying stuff on – and all of the clothes are free, no questions asked. If you find anything you like, you can just take it. Unlike other clothing providers, Impact Humanity requires no appointments, referrals, enrollments, or documentation. It is truly no strings attached: simply take what you want and walk out the door with your new clothes. The store offers clothes for both warm and cold weather. It offers formal attire for job interviews. It offers shoes, hygiene supplies, and sleeping bags. And it offers a boutique shopping environment: find items you like on racks, then try them on in the fitting room. The store is run by local non-profit Impact Locally. All of the store's items are donations, and the store is run by volunteers. If you would like to volunteer to work at the store, or if you want to donate to the store, you can find more information at this website:

https://www.impactlocally.org/humanity

Impact Humanity is located at 2526 Welton Street in Five Points, and is open Tuesday through Thursday, from noon to 5:00pm.

A second tiny home village is hopefully coming to Denver! The planned village will consist of eight tiny homes and will be located on the downtown campus of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church at Glenarm Place and 20th Avenue. Planning is being led by the Colorado Village Collaborative (CVC), the same organization that spearheaded Denver's first tiny home village, the Beloved Community Village, which is currently thriving at 38th Street and Walnut Street. According to CVC's website, the new village will be "A Women's Village," "for women by women," inclusive of transgender women. The website refers to the project as both St. Andrew's Village and The Women's Village. Fundraising is already underway, with the $20,000 needed to build the first home already raised. Fundraising is proceeding through donately.com, a site similar to gofundme. However, before construction can begin, the project faces some review from the city. Specifically, Denver's Landmark Preservation Committee will have to approve the project because the village's location is in a historic district. This review process will last several weeks, and will include public meetings and a comment period. The new village will also need the a six-month permit to occupy its site. This is the same permit that Beloved Community Village must renew every six months. According to Denverite, CVC is "working with the mayor's office and city planners to allow tiny villages to stay in place for longer periods of time." CVC plans for the new village to have some improvements over Beloved Community Village. It may feature two incinerator toilets instead of Beloved Community's portable toilets. The central kitchen at the new village may feature running water, an improvement over the food preparation area at Beloved Community. The new village may include a pavilion and a bathhouse. CVC has no plans for the Women's Village to be the last tiny homes project in Denver. Cole Chandler, an organizer with CVC, told Denverite that "All along, we've said that the Beloved Community Village was not a one-off project. Our goal was to launch a network of villages across the metro area." He hopes that the Women's Village is "the second of many" projects that will succeed in Denver. We at Get Loud hope so, too!

​ Beloved Community Village is the first village in a series of villages that the Colorado Village Collaborative (CVC) is in the process of developing. It is the culmination of a long held dream by many, spearheaded by folks from the street advocating for such a housing option. It has not come with out a price to the villagers. In order to help generate support and good will with the city and the neighborhoods the first village, Beloved Community, is inundated with interviews from local media, requests for documentaries, requests for tours plus the work villagers do in visiting other communities and civic organizations promoting this model of shared living. It seems everyone want to get their photo op/story when it comes to the village. The villagers have had to bravely endure the fish bowl of attention for being the first of its kind here in Denver. The villagers while making the decisions on what they feel they can bear have not been alone in this. The community of Beloved Community Village extends beyond the villagers in the tiny homes and includes organizers from CVC and the local church from which they draw their name. It has been a shared experience by many. One of the most notable developments with the village has been the love affair between the Beloved Community and the RiNo neighboorhood. As this was a pilot project access to the land the village sets on was only temporary (6mo.) But because the two communities havedrawn so close in the process, that as the end of the lease for the land the village was renting was up the folks from RiNo sent a letter to city officials asking to find a way to keep the village in their community. Which after some effrt with the planning office and the land holder was worked out. And that is the whole point of the project... developing communities. Having those communities draw close and be supportive of each other. We will see how the media responds to the next village that is now in the works. The next village will be at St. Andrews Episcopal Church. Planning and development of the 2nd CVC project is ongoing and they are hopeful to begin construction this coming spring. Bringing with them all the lessons learned from the first village.

Thanks to a lot of advocacy work, there is now a legal path to build tiny homes here in Denver, Colorado. Many different organizations and individuals are showing interest in getting involved in this housing alternative. First up, the Urban Land Conservatory will be providing land access to the the first such village here in Denver. The community will be sponsored by Beloved Community Church, and the village will bear its name, The Beloved Community. Although the first run will only be 6 months, there is hope and expectation that there will be access to other parcels of land in many parts of the city. Expect these cute little bungalows to pop up all over the city, helping to ease the housing crisis we are experiencing here in Denver. Tiny Homes are not the only answer but are part of a broad-based solution of many types of housing needed especially for those experiencing poverty and homelessness. To get an idea of the excitement about this, both the RiNo neighborhood organization and the Cole neighborhood organization voted unanimously to send endorsement letters of the project to the city. The Mayor's office has been asking the city planning department to “make it so,” as they understand the need for something to happen quickly. This style of living is very community-based, and neighborhoods are looking forward to the opportunity to share in this kind of community-based housing plan. There are other projects on the horizon. Just look at these cute things!!!

The civil class action law suit filed by Jason Florez-Williams against the city of Denver regarding the confiscation of personal property of folks experiencing homelessness without due process continues. The suit was originally filed August 25, 2016 in Federal District Court. The long process has been alredy through many involved procedural hearings including the lead plaintiffs' depositions in February, six and seven grueling hours worth of questioning by the city's District Attorney's office. During the procedural hearings, the court made a determination that class action status would b granted. This means that the results of the case will apply not just to the individuals named in the suit but to all who have been affected (a class). The class does not include all homeless individuals in the city, just those whose property was effected by the city's failure to follow its own written procedures. If your property was illegally taken as a result of one of the sweeps, you would qualify to be included in the class named in the suit. Considering the city's push in conducting these sweeps there are a lot of people who would qualify. The city's District Attorneys office is using delay tactics typical in these kinds of cases. Those who have power and resources are quite content to draw out the proceedings in hopes that those without power and resources will give up the effort along the way. But dely tactics are also a sign that the city is at a disadvantage in some manner. Testimony gathered in the depositions led the legal team leading the class action lawsuit aginst the city to file for summary judgment. The request for summary judgment means that the legal team that filed the suit feels its case is so overwhelming that a judge could rule on this case in favor of the homeless, without going to trial. While it is not likely that the presiding judge will make such a summary judgment, he is reviewing the possibility, which means more procedural hearings and more delays. If the judge does not make a summary judgment, the case will go to trial. Additionally the case now has the support of a top rated civil rights attorney in Denver. David Lane and his law firm Killmer, Lane and Newman joined the case this past summer adding to the support of those homeless folks who were affected by the city's actions.

One of the ways in which the homeless community in Denver is organizing is by building coalitions with other grassroots organizations across the US. This past July, Denver Homeless Out Loud sent a team of organizers to meet with organizers from throughout the western United States in San Francisco. The Denver team consisting of Rhonda Romero, Jesse Paris, Ben Dunning , Gadabout Steel and Terese Howard. The plan for the trip was training and a conference. A day-and-a-half stranded in the Nevada desert due to mechanical problems was not enough to keep the determined organizers from Denver from the conference. But it did cut out the training opportunity for the Denver team. Once in San Francisco, organizers from Denver Homeless Out Loud joined nationally noted groups as Los Angeles Community Action Network (LACAN), Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) and the San Francisco Coalition for the Homeless. At the conference, strategy for the next run of the Right to Rest Act was discussed. Key points included how to work together to get regional momentum for the pieces of statye legislation. The need to build local coalitions in support of the legislation. Also discussed were strategies for advocating for sane housing policy and the need to build coalitions in local areas for homeless advocacy in general.